Difference between "I love you" and "I'm falling in love with you"

Just to clarify what it means because I never knew there was a difference until my best friend told me there was.
"I love you" can mean love or passion for a family member, a friend, even a hobby (i.e. a love of basketball)
"I'm falling in love with you" is more romantic and in a way can say "you're the one."
So in your opinion what is the difference? Am I right or completely wrong?

you`re not completely wrong..just.....wrong..lol...when someone tells you that he loves you....that means that he wanted you to know his feelings for you ...and when you also love that person i think that it has borned a new romantic love story...but when a boy or man tells you"i`m falling in love with you"..that means that he is so close loving you that he almost reach the peak of love for you ...and he`s feeling so attracted to you and cares a lot for you...it`s not that feeling from the beginning when he didn`t cared that much for you..i can say that he was a little careless about your relationship ....but when he tells you that,it means he doesn`t want to let you go from his life and he starts to love you from the first beginning when you pronounced those words....it`s truly magic...

i 100% agree with what you're saying
I think you can love many things in life but when someone says I think im falling in love with you or "i think i love you" is so much different than saying i love you.
It just puts the meaning of love into a bigger perspective.

for me, when one says im falling in love with you..it means he/she is not yet in the state of loving..he/she is just on his/her way of loving.
i would prefer my BF saying "i love you more and more each day".. ;) isn't that more romantic?

What I prefer from my spouse is how far he had given for me. But words is also needed, to me this 2 words are the same. As long as you respect for what he had given to you, then he will give you more than you can imagine.
But if you want me to choose, I prefer the word of "I love you". Brief but he meant it.